Psychonauts 2

This was a review I picked up on a whim, looking to try something new, and now I’m walking away with a strong new game of the year contender. Psychonauts 2 is fun, funny, heartfelt, and handles its themes with a deft and gentle hand. Thanks to its great recapping, anyone can play regardless of their history with the series, and I recommend you do!

Psychonauts 2 is the perfect sequel. It builds on everything the original game was while adding its own unique spin on gameplay and story. The overworld is a joy to explore and the levels are more stylish and dazzling than ever before with fantastic controls. It’s a fantastic experience that will stick with you, and has a ton to see and do.

After a long sixteen years, Double Fine has delivered the ultimate sequel. Psychonauts 2 refines what made the first game good, ponders necessary questions, expands a world that was begging for a follow-up and executes a number of jaw-dropping visual ideas. It’s a proper modern 3D platformer with incredible art direction, and it’s ready to hit you with a deluge of imagination and empathy. You don’t want to miss it.

It's an improvement on its already beloved predecessor, hilarious, heart-filled and left me wanting more.

A tour-de-force of sumptious visuals and world-class game design come together for a truly impressive feast for the senses. Psychonauts 2 is a must-play title for fans and newcomers alike.

Psychonauts 2 is an absolutely fantastic game, and I can say that with certainty. Double Fine took an amazing concept that was ahead of its time and proved that they could do it again. The very few issues I had with the game were minor and had absolutely zero bearings on my overall enjoyment of the game.

Psychonauts 2 delivers on everything it madly promises. That includes old school platforming with new school precision, an impressive visual style that never falters, and a world begging to be explored.

The very existence of Psychonauts 2 demonstrates that good ideas have to overcome a thousand difficulties before being realized, but in the end they somehow impose themselves. It took years for the first chapter to overcome people’s skepticism but, day after day, it has built up a fan base so large that we were finally able to play with a full-fledged, high budget sequel. And it's beautiful. Pleasant, original, colorful, compelling. Do you need more adjectives to be convinced?

Psychonauts 2 honors its predecessor. Tim Schafer is back with his brilliant writing and his ability to create fantastic worlds, tackling complex issues with due depth.

If gameplay that's unremarkable at best doesn't distract you from a very original artistic & design direction that's painfully necessary in the video games business. And that makes Psychonauts 2 praiseworthy!

It boasts some of the most imaginative levels out there, and they’re backed up by platforming and combat that feels very familiar yet also surprisingly fresh. Its story has a more personal note, yet fleshes out not just Raz and the characters around him, but the game’s universe as a whole. Simply put, Psychonauts 2 is a triumph in all the ways it needs to be, and this hopefully means that it won’t be the last we see of the series.

Psychonauts 2 is everything you could ask from a sequel. A glorious return to form for Double Fine.

Psychonauts 2 manages to do justice to the long wait. A great adventure that appeals to players of all ages awaits you.

Psychonauts 2 is a brilliant experience that makes the 16-year wait since the first game worth. Creativity is the key, in a title that offers one of the best audio-visual experiences of the year. Expectations were high, but Double Fine corresponded to the fans expectations with a game that follows the formula of the first, while adding a series of improvements and features that make it a must for any fan of the genre.

Psychonauts 2 is a fun, endearing puzzle platformer full of quirky challenges and entertaining dialogue. If you’re a fan of the original, or just enjoy platformers, Psychonauts 2 is a great purchase. The only downside is that its graphics and combat mechanics can feel a little outdated.

A rare sequel that improves on the original in every meaningful way. It's packed to the brim with beautiful worlds and surprising interactions, and its colourful cast is equal parts funny, believable, and sympathetic. Double Fine is rarely wide of the mark, but this time it hit the bullseye.

Playing Psychonauts 2 is like taking a step back in time in the best way possible. The fact that the game’s core concept still holds up 16 years later is a testament to how far ahead of its time the first game was. Psychonauts 2 feels like it’s the game Double Fine always wanted to make. It incites a childlike, playful nature that I’ve not experienced in games for ages. At the same time, it deals with some heavy subject topics in ways that feel nuanced. Even if you haven’t touched the original, Psychonauts 2 is absolutely worth playing through.

Psychonauts 2 is absolutely fizzing with ideas in gameplay, story, and presentation. Its story is emotional, its characters are hilarious, its worlds are huge and imaginative, plus I had a fun time actually playing the dang thing. Apart from some minor issues with the optional dialogue, it's clear Double Fine went all out developing this title. Nothing feels rushed, nothing feels unfinished, and nothing feels like padding. This is a fabulously well-made game, and a perfect game for lockdown. If you’re looking for some extra joy from your video games, you need to play Psychonauts 2. If you’re a fan of the original, I suspect you’ll like it even more.

Psychonauts 2 is a must-play for anyone interested in what modern platformers can do and what a compelling comedy adventure looks like in 2021.

Psychonauts 2 is a well-expanded sequel to the first game with tons of personality, solid platforming and action, and a great story with a memorable cast of new and returning characters.

Psychonauts 2 is huge news for Xbox Game Studios, Double Fine, fans of the series and gamers in general. It's a title that overflows with charisma and deals with some very complicated issues in a brilliant way. Perhaps we could have asked for more from a gameplay or combat point of view, but it's impossible not to have a smile on your face when you reach the credits.

Improved platforming underpins a glorious return to one of gaming's most inventive and empathic universes.

The most imaginative PC platformer money can buy right now.

Psychonauts 2 is a return to form for Double Fine Productions and a worthy successor to Razputin's first adventure.

Psychonauts 2 is a great game with solid writing, fun gameplay and strange, unique worlds. Its an adventure with a strong flavor albeit taking a while to really take off and show its true colors. We certainly hope it won't be overlooked like the original when it first came out.

Platformers have technically advanced a lot since the original Psychonauts, though they’ve never really grown up. Despite animated films from the likes of Pixar addressing depression, grief, and even dementia for a younger audience, games rarely explore hard-hitting topics in a way that’s palatable for kids. Psychonauts 2 not only does a terrific job of exploring mental health without the confrontational heaviness of the M-rated The Last of Us 2, while diving in deep enough to warrant lengthy conversations about its themes long after its credits have rolled. While its old-school nature can lead to frustration, I was far too enamored by its characters and their heart-warming empathy for one another to let it dampen my enjoyment of this long-awaited sequel.

If one feels the mechanics of the old-school 3D platformer at the heart of the structure of Psychonauts 2, the reunion with Raz has never been so modern and pleasant. Funny, touching, ultra creative, more precise in its gameplay than before, Psychonauts 2 is a generous and rhythmic game, which offers between 15 and 20 hours of a particularly successful experience. Certainly, we will deplore a challenge in withdrawal, bosses perhaps less crazy than in the past or the absence of French dubbing, but nothing to sulk his pleasure in the face of this breathless, funny and touching adventure located in a universe that it is so refreshing to explore.

Every detail in the game shows that, despite the 17-years gap between the original game and its sequel, Raz still holds a very special place in the hearts of Tim Schafer and his team. [Issue#255, p.48]

Psychonauts 2 is an act of empathy by Double Fine towards video games and oneself. If you are ready to go through it, this sequel can put aside its appearance of a classic 3D platform video game to connect with you on a very personal level. Or, at least, that's what happened to me while i was playing it. Psychonauts 2 has come like a breath of fresh air at a time in my life when I needed to stop for a moment and just breathe.

Fantastic trips through colorful minds and a robust narrative help to make Psychonauts 2 an enjoyable adventure and a faithful sequel.

If so much of this game is a reiteration of what worked about its predecessor, it functions as a reminder for just how much of the medium is still catching up to Psychonauts.

Moments will leave you with a lump in the throat or others that are really funny; brilliant musical sections and realistic and tender romances; tributes to amusement parks and reflections on addiction or on our own fears. Few games know how to navigate that range of emotions so well without getting lost in the attempt. Psychonauts 2 achieves all that and much more.

A huge impact was left on me by Psychonauts. While that’s not likely to be the same story for Psychonauts 2, I wasn’t disappointed. There was no single place that let me down so severely that it soured the overall experience. Nothing that struck me as starkly inferior. It’s maybe not quite as genius, but it’s still a mind worth exploring.

Even with a few rough edges, Psychonauts 2 is just about everything I could have hoped for from this long-awaited sequel.